The Toronto Blue Jays sure love to hit home runs this Spring Training.
On Friday afternoon, they took on the Philadelphia Phillies in their third-to-last Spring Training game, defeating them 11-7 to move to 16-10-1. They have a full game on the second-placed Boston Red Sox in the Grapefruit League standings.
The Blue Jays got going in the bottom of the third. Anthony Santander hit an RBI single, but three of their four runs were scored thanks to George Springer’s first home run of Spring Training.
In the bottom of the fourth, Addison Barger hit his third home run of Spring Training to make it a 5-0 game for the Jays, with Kyle Schwarber hitting a home run for the Phillies in their top half of the fifth.
Toronto had another big inning in the bottom of the fifth. With two runners on, Andrés Giménez hit a three-run home run to give the Blue Jays an 8-1 lead. In the bottom of the sixth, Giménez hit a single to score another run.
The top of the seventh saw a two-run home run from former Blue Jays’ farm hand Payton Henry to make it 9-3. However, Alejandro Kirk hit a home run of his own in the bottom half of the inning to make it 10-3. Another former Blue Jay minor leaguer, Cal Stevenson, doubled in two runs to make the game 10-5, followed by an RBI single from Davis Schneider. Erick Brito hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth to make it an 11-7 game but it wasn’t enough.

Takeaways…

After hitting the fifth-fewest home runs last season, the Blue Jays have hit 39 home runs this Spring Training, tied for the fourth-most in the league. On Friday, the Jays finished with four home runs. George Springer hit his first, Alejandro Kirk and Andrés Giménez each hit their second, and Addison Barger hit his third. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Joey Loperfido each hit their fourth double as well.
The Jays totaled 13 hits, meaning seven singles. Bo Bichette, Giménez, Davis Schneider, Ernie Clement, and Nathan Lukes each hit one while Anthony Santander hit two singles. Moreover, the Jays walked six times, with Guerrero Jr. being responsible for two of those bases on balls.
José Berríos made the start for the Jays, pitching 5.1 innings while giving up an earned run and striking out five. The next time we see Berríos will be next Thursday for the Jays’ home opener. Jeff Hoffman pitched a scoreless two-thirds. However, Yimi García, Brendon Little, and Richard Lovelady each gave up two earned runs.
There’s a chance that the Blue Jays can clinch the Golden Grapefruit on Saturday. If the Red Sox lose their game Friday evening and the Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins on Saturday at 1:05 PM ET, they’ll finish with the top record in the Grapefruit League.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.